Improvement in stamf-cancelers



"tnitml States gaat cima,

Letters Patent No. 106,963, dated August 30, 1870.

The Schedule referred to in these Letters Patent and making part olf the tame.

To all whom 'it may concern.-

Be it known that I, GEORGE B. ROGERS, of Boston, in the county of Suffolk and State of Massachusetts, have invented a Revolving Glitter or Punch, for.perfbratiug written, printed, embossed, or other instruments after being executed, to prevent altera tion or forging of original figures, words, signatures,

or other characters, should the ink, writing-Huid, or impression be removed for the purpose ot' attempting to alter it; and I hereby declare the following to be a full, clear, andvexact description of the same, referenee heilig had to the accompanying drawing nlaking part of this specification, in which- Figure 1 is a perspective view, illustrating the application of my revolving punch or cutter in perforating a bank-check.

Figure 2 is a plan of my revolving cut-ter.

Figure 3 is a transverse sect-ion on the line a: x of a 2 Figures 4 and 5, details.

To prevent the erasure or removal of written, printed, or embossed matter, and the insertion of words, figures, or other characters, of diiereut import than those originally contained in a legal, financial, or other instrument, are the object of niy invention, which consists in a revolving punch or cutter, for perforating the instrument after being executed, whereby, should the ink he extracted oiimpression removed for the purpose of substituting fictitious or lin-eign mattei', the surface of the instrument will be rendered unfit for receiving lit without clearly expos-r ing the intended deception or alteration.

lo enable others skilled in the art to understand and use my invention, I will proceed to describe the manner in which I have carried it ont.

In the said drawing- A B C are three disks or circular plates, each provided with' teeth or projections, c, and held together upon a common axis, b, by means of' two circular blocks 1) E, the block I) serving as a nut, and being provided with a female screw, c, which lits over the thread of a male screw on the block E, by which means the disks A B C (with two washers, d e, inte`rposed between two contiguous disks) may be securely clamped when properly adjusted in the desired posi tion, the whole ibi-ming a toothed wheel, G, which revolves upon-bosses, fg, projecting from the outside of the blocks D E, the bosses serving as journals of the wheel G, and turning freely in bearings, h, in the outer ends of a bifurcatcd shank, H, the inner end of the shank being screwed into the lower end of the handle I, which is provided with a ferrule, fi.

K is a sheet of rubber, attached to a blockI of wood, L, of convenient size, upon which is placed the bankcheck, note, deed, will, or other legal, printed, written, orembossed instrument, after being correctly made out.

The toothed wheel is now placed upon the instrument, and is revolved as the handle I, grasped by the operator, is drawn toward him, a slight pressure downward causing the teeth of the wheel to enter the written, printed, or embossed portion of the check or other instrument, (which it isA of the most importance to prevent changiug,) and to remove small portions of the paper or other material; the perforations thus made leaving the paperrongh and ragged, so that it will be impossible (after having removed the ink) to inserta fictitious amount, or replace a word of different meaning than .that originally contained therein, the action ofthe chemical (employed in removing the ink) upon the perforated instrument serving to weaken its liber, and increase its roughness, so as to render it impossible to write over it with a pen and produce a fair imitation of the original handwriting of the party who executed 'the instrument, and retain the genuine clean and unaltered appearance of an instrument not tampered with. v

.lhe appearance of an instrument after heilig perforated, when written over after the ink has been removed, is so unmistakably broken, imperfect, disconnected, or blotted, that the readily discovered.

The revolving cutter shown in the drawing represents the teeth'a so arranged that a plane passing through the contiguous teeth of the three disks forms an angle with, or is inclined to, a plane passing longitudinally through the centcr ot' the axis; but the contiguous teeth of the several disks may be placed so that a plane passing through them will also pass longitudinally` through the center of the axis; or, if desired, the wheels maybe turned on their axis by loosening the nut D, so as to bring the teeth into a position, seen in fig. 4, to imitate amish-tail, or as seen reversed in fig. 5, the object being to perforate the .paper in such manner as to render the deception most apparent when written over after removing the ink.

'I t is evident that other material may be used than rubber upon which to place the written instrument when pressing and drawing the revolving punch -or cutter over it; but I prefer an elastic material, as' it possesses the yielding property so d'esirable for removing or tearing the minute portions of the paper to form the pertbrations, the rubber sheet or bed performing the oliice of a female die of an ordinary punch.

It will be seen, from the foregoing, that my invenv tion is particularly 'useful for canceling government stamps. n v

Instead of being of circular shape, the disks forming the revolving cutter may be ot' elliptical, polygodcception or forgery is nel, or other form, `if' desired, without departing from to prevent their being forged 0i' altered, substantially `the spirit of my invent-ion; but I prefer the construcas described.

{tion first described. Also, the elastic bed K, in combination with the y revolving cutter or punch G, substzmtialiy as and for the purpose set forth.

What I claim as my inventi0n,and desire to secure v Witness my hand this 6th day of J nl'y, A. D. 1870.

C laz'ms.

by Letters Patent, is GEO. B. ROGERS.

The revolving cutter or punch, with disks O B A held together ou a. common axis, and provided with Witnesses:

teeth or projections and washers d e, as arranged for L. E. BATGHELLER,

perfor-ating written, printed, or embossed instruments, N. W. STEARNS. 

